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Just don’t expect it to last forever. They’re not “building addicts” for nothing.

“HBO Doesn’t Care If You Share Your HBO Go Account… For Now.” via TechCrunch

“Is there anything wrong, or evil, with this strategy? Not really. In fact, it’s pretty damned smart. It’s like an indefinitely long free trial in disguise. With HBO currently set-up to be sold only as a premium add-on to a cable bill that’s generally already pretty massive, convincing someone to get their their own account is a pretty huge hurdle. If the alternative is people pirating HBO’s shows, HBO might as well get those people comfortable with the convenience of going through the official channels.”

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To put that another way, a 10-month-old startup just purchased a 93-year-old business for $100 million.

“10-Month-Old Startup Buys 93-Year-Old Business for $100 Million” via Mashable

I was literally about to sign up for Dollar Shave Club when I heard about Harry’s, then read this story today. I love the way they leveraged their initial product into being able to make this giant strategic investment.

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If this seems like an odd arena for T-Mobile to step into when it clearly has important things on the wireless side to tend to, you’re not alone. From the standpoint of building brand recognition with folks who are cost-sensitive, this certainly makes sense, and we’re sure a good number of people will actually take advantage of this. But how much does this distract away from T-Mobile’s objectives as a carrier? Only time can tell how this one will play out.

“The Uncarrier wants to be the Unbank of prepaid debit cards” via TechCrunch

As a small startup we are constantly wrestling with “wow, that new direction looks like shiny, let’s go after it.” Yet focus and clarity is important for our products and ultimately for our customers. 

I’m curious how T-Mobile will fare as they start to act like a bank, taking on the likes of Simple and potentially distracting from their goals as a telco.

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I believe the change in attitude came from truly connecting and tuning in at home. This required disconnecting from work (e.g. turning off the computer and phone), and completely focusing all of my attention on the details of the home. Cooking a great meal. Helping with a science project. Discussing the future with my partner.

Scott Weiss, “Success at Work, Failure at Home”.

Great article by Scott on the challenges of balancing work/life when you’re the CEO of a growing startup. I think the insights are broadly applicable outside of just the CEO role; for me, joining a startup after working at big company for 10 years has forced me to rethink several key parts of my own personal work/life balance.

I can be a workaholic, so a while back Amy and I worked on a few simple “strategies” for ensuring we stay connected regardless of how intensely I through myself into my job. My favorite, Friday Date Night, is something we loved doing in Seattle and have picked up with gusto here in NYC. We need to work on “leaving our phones in our pockets”, but making sure we have one or two dedicated nights per week of just cooking dinner, binge-watching Netflix, and drinking good wine are what keeps me sane.

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As the App Store Top Charts seem to prove, people don’t seem to be looking for “an inbox for everything,” but instead for sharply focused apps delivering solid value at a moment’s notice.

“Facebook plans suite of standalone mobile apps for 2014” via The Verge

“Calendar could be another opportunity for Facebook to embed itself into its users’ lives. Facebook Events are perhaps the most popular way to send out birthday party invites — yet Facebook has largely ignored its potential. All the while, free apps like Sunrise tastefully bundle Facebook events into your Google or iCloud calendar. A Facebook Calendar app, like the new Messenger, would have to be the best calendar app — not the best Facebook Calendar app — which means no spammy “Sponsored Events” or suggested parties. The app could plug into Google Calendar, like Fantastical or Sunrise, but provide the best Facebook Events experience, since that’s what people are using to track of events they’re attending. It’s also worth noting that Facebook is still the place most people check to keep up on birthdays — a sorely undervalued and essential functionality that Sunrise duly steals.”

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2020 could see the end of online versus offline. “The membrane between the online world and the offline will effectively disappear, as continuously connected devices fully disappear into our pockets, clothing, our jewelry, our selves,”

Glen Hiemstra, of Futurist.com, in “8 Unexpected Ways Technology Will Change The World By 2020”

“We will not think of two different worlds … but instead see simply a fully integrated life.”

I sometimes feel like I have a duality problem. I love being hyper-connected, I love the “quantified self”, and I love sharing. At the same time my wife and I try to remember to “put down the phones and just talk”, often by leaving them in another room when we’re reading, eating dinner, etc. Convergence of offline and online will bring about amazing things (IMHO), but the downside is that you will have to actually actively do work (unplug, silence notifications, etc.) to just relax and read a book.

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In the US alone there are 30 billion inbound sales calls every year. Just. Sales. Calls. Inbound. That number is projected to GROW to 70 billion by 2016.

“Why Most of Your Assumptions About Phone Calls are Wrong” – BIA Kelsey via Mark Suster at Both Sides of the Table

As an individual, I rarely use my phone for actual calls and try to actively push people not to call me. I check my personal voicemail once a week and rely on my outgoing message, “Text or email me if it’s urgent”, to help get folks to my favorite channels. 

That’s me personally. This article is a really stark reminder of the fact that although lots of individuals feel the same way, for businesses it is absolutely crucial to be readily reachable (and to have a great presence) on the phone.

Another favorite quote from the article:

“Simply, customers trust businesses that are available by phone. Even if they don’t want to always call you.”

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However, it’s a sign of just how powerful a combination Google’s software and Nest’s hardware represents when even casual observers can imagine such scenarios that, in reality, would not be that difficult to execute on Google’s part.

“Why Google Bought Nest and What It Could Mean for Your Home” via Mashable

I love the tweet from @marksuman about Waze + Nest being able to turn up the heat in your house as it notices you getting closer to home.

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App competition means there’s almost always a free app option consumers can choose instead of shelling out for a paid app. So the bar for what a paid app should be is pushed ever higher. By 2017, Gartner predicts that 94.5% of downloads will be for free apps.

“Gartner Says Less Than One Percent of Consumer Mobile Apps Will Be Considered a Financial Success by Their Developers Through 2018” via Gartner Reports

Key points:

  • By 2017, Gartner predicts that 94.5% of downloads will be for free apps.
  • Freemium app business models which rely on monetizing a free download after the fact via in-app purchases (IAP) will continue to grow in importance for developers. (As will app advertising.)
  • By 2016, 20 percent of enterprise bring your own device (BYOD) programs will fail due to enterprise deployment of mobile device management (MDM) measures that are too restrictive.
  • By 2017, the browser on mobile endpoint devices will be used as a sophisticated application delivery platform, with 50 percent of new Web apps involving complex client-side JavaScript.

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2014 will be remembered as the best time in a generation to have bought a venture-backed company in Latin America as an efficient way to gain entry to the quickly growing Latin America market (known as the “Acqui-entry”). The opportunity in Latin America is extraordinary and valuations generally remain very low compared to similarly situated U.S. based startups.

Juan Pablo Cappello via TheNextWeb, “Why 2014 will be the year of the “Acqui-entry” in Latin America”